Holding out for a Hero
by stagepageandscreen
Summary: What had Courfeyrac been thinking, signing her up for the karaoke night at the Musain? Eponine really didn't want to be there, and neither did Enjolras who had better things to be doing than watch Eponine be made a fool of. But as she sang, something broke loose in both of them. She held out for a hero and she found him. Sort of a song fic. Oneshot


Holding out for a Hero

He was dead.

Courfeyrac was _so fricking dead_ when she got off this stage. Signing her up for the karaoke night! What had he been thinking! Actually that was stupid question as, knowing Courfeyrac, probably not a lot at all…

"Okay, Club Musain, show some appreciation for our next volunteer singer…" - _volunteer my ass_ - "…Eponine Jondrette!"

She stalked out on stage, her borrowed black high heels clicking as she made her way to the microphone. Now she really wished she had put on something nicer than her favourite pair of black skinny jeans and the sequinned top that her roommate, Cosette, had given her for the evening. Tossing her long brown hair off her shoulders as she reached the mike, to anyone in the room it was apparent that she was seven shades of pissed off right now.

Her group of so called friends, the Amis, hollered and cat called as she appeared on stage, all except one. Enjolras was probably about as pissed off as Eponine was at that moment, but his strikingly handsome face held a look of indifference as opposed to the glare Eponine was sporting. He had been dragged away from preparing for a test so that he could come and watch Eponine be made a fool of.

Eponine was still fuming. She hated attention, hated people watching her. "Courf? Jerome Courfeyrac, where are you?" she scanned the room, the flashing lights making it difficult.

"Over here!" the irrepressible Irishman stood on a chair to make him easier to spot.

"She full named you," muttered Joly, who was trying to touch as few surfaces as possible. "This is serious."

"You have ten minutes after I step off this stage to hide your most prized possessions before I find traumatic and inventive ways to destroy them." She growled into the microphone, earning herself a laugh from the crowd. Courfeyrac however, blanched pale. He knew she wasn't joking.

Just then, the music started to play. Squaring her shoulders, Eponine prepared herself. If she was going to be forced up here, she'd better give them one hell of a show.

"_Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods_?" she held the microphone stand gently, her rich and silky voice taking everyone by surprise. "_Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds_?"

"We've got Apollo over here!" yelled a drunken Grantaire, who was promptly punched by just about everyone and told to shut up.

"_Isn't there a white night upon a fiery steed_?" she lingered over the words, seduction dripping from her voice. "_Late at night, I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need._"

The heavy club beat kicked in and something came over her. "_I need a hero! I'm holding out for hero till the end of the night! He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight_!"

People started filtering onto the dance floor, Cosette and her boyfriend Marius among them.

"_I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light! He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life! Larger than life._"

Enjolras was stunned. This was the last song he expected Eponine to sing. She was fiercely independent, and after she had had her heart broken by Marius (_unintentionally, but broken none the less_) she had sworn off love, saying that it didn't exist, that men in general were a waste of time and that she could look after herself very well thank you very much. But now… Even from where he was standing, Enjolras could see the emotion swirling in her eyes as she pulled the microphone from the stand and began moving easily around the stage, her voice low and seductive.

"_Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy, somewhere just beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me_!" her eyes locked with his as she sang the next words, the dark depths drawing him in.

"_Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat! It's going to take a superman to sweep me off my feet_!" the song descended into an instrumental section and she swayed gracefully. The dance floor was packed, all of the Amis screaming their support.

As she sang the chorus, Eponine could feel something inside her break loose and she gave the next verse everything she had.

"_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above! Out where the lightening splits the sea!"_ she belted the lines, perfectly in tune and giving most of the room goose bumps. "_I could swear that there's someone somewhere watching me! Through the wind and the chill and the rain! And the storm and the flood! I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood_!"

"_Like a fire in my blood, like a fire in my blood, like afire in my blood!" _ran the backing track.

The music fell into a tango beat to which Cosette and Marius showed off their ball room dancing skills. Eponine danced on stage, the strong beat flowing through her body and making her heart beat faster. In that moment, she felt invincible.

"_I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night! And he's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life_!"

Enjolras found himself being pulled towards the stage, mesmerised. He wondered if he was the only one who heard the truth in her words, the hint of wistfulness that for some reason broke his heart.

"_Hero! And he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight_!" she took a deep breath and her voice rose on the last line. "_I need a hero_!"

Everyone in the club went nuts. They clapped and cheered (apart from Courfeyrac, who was legging it for home to hide his most prized possessions) and Eponine took a shaky bow, suddenly shy, the adrenalin wearing off. Apparently, the sudden gracefulness she had shown had also worn off and she overbalanced in the unfamiliar heels and tumbled straight off the stage.

Straight into the arms of no one other than Enjolras.

They stared wide eyed at one another for a moment until the moment was broken by someone shouting, "Looks like you've found your hero, sweetheart!"

They both blushed as he awkwardly set her back onto her feet, and she promptly used him to steady herself as she pulled the damned heels off and gave them back to Cosette. Dodging her new found fans, she scampered upstairs to the empty first floor to find some peace and quiet and clear her head.

The room was dark and cool without the body heat of fifty odd people crammed into the tiny space and Eponine shivered slightly in the flimsy shirt. Her fingers automatically went to finger the silver chain around her neck, a present from her little brother Gavroche. When she finger met only bare skin, her chest flooded with panic and then grief as she realized she would never find it. She could have lost it anywhere between this room and her apartment.

Footsteps coming through the door jerked her out of thoughts and she shrank further in the shadowed corner she was sat in.

"Eponine?" It was Enjolras.

After their awkward little moment downstairs, Eponine didn't really want to speak to him so she stayed silent and hoped he would go away.

"Eponine, I know you're in here. I found your necklace, the one with the silver chain…"

She flung herself at him from the shadows, her arms going around his shoulders and making him jump.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! Where did you find it? Oh, I thought I'd never see it again!" It was only then she realised how tense Enjolras was and how close they were. Drawing back, she looked up into his face and by the light thrown from the door; she could discern a vaguely panicked expression on his face. A mischievous thought flew through her mind and before she knew what she was doing, she had pulled his lips to hers.

For a moment, he stood absolutely stock still and Eponine wondered for a minute if she had made a terrible mistake. A thought occurred to her; what if he had never been kissed before? This had been a very bad idea, better to end it now and blame it on emotion and an adrenaline high and forget the whole incident. Just as she began to pull away, his lips began to move gently on her, almost tentatively.

Feelings that she barely recognised flooded her body and she felt herself getting drawn into his kiss. His lips were soft and gentle and tasted vaguely of ginger ale, a drink that she knew he favoured over alcohol. It was nice, no correction, this moment was incredible.

When they pulled back, both wide eyed and flushing, Eponine allowed herself a small smile. Enjolras, the fearless leader of their group and poetic orator, had a look on his face that she had never seen before. He looked somewhere between embarrassed, intrigued, and surprised and his blue eyes shone bright with the mixed emotions. Overall, the effect was very very sexy.

She moved forwards again and brushed her lips gently against his. "I think we should go back downstairs, before our absence is taken the wrong way." She whispered, one hand reaching up to play with the blond curls at the nape of his neck.

"Oh…of… of course." He stuttered, completely out of character. She found it rather endearing and tangled her fingers with his. When he relaxed and gripped her hand in a silent response, Eponine felt a calm come over her.

She'd held out for a hero, and she'd found one.


End file.
